Before the King
by A Grayer Shade of Gray
Summary: Akka is an Amazonian Akkadian, found by Medias and his  two companions one night. She has left Mathayus and his two companions and made her way to Gamora where she encounters a problem... Updating! Look for Updates and New Chapters! Please R&R!
1. Beauty and the Beast I

Disclaimer: The sorcerer in the movie, though very pretty (Kelly Hu is rather hot), was a fluff character and I cannot see someone like the Scorpion King with a fluffy trophy, and so this was born. Before the King. 

  
  


Before the King Part I: The Beauty and the Beast (I)

  
  


Medias felt the heat of the night. It prickled his skin and caused his long, black hair to cling to his scalp in clumps. His camel was at rest, as were his two companions and their horses. Medias, however, found the night restless in its sweltering heat. It choked away every chance of peaceful rest that he had, wrestling it away even as the body and mind screamed and protested for comfort to rest. Akkadians were not accustomed to comfort, but rest was a necessary luxury that all bodies need. Even assassins. 

The stars spread their light upon the white sands still hot from the day's torture in the sun. Medias shifted onto his shoulder for the last time and sat up, running his hands over his sweat soaked hair. Sweat from the day and night saturated his body, encasing him and making the massive mountain of a man feel dirty and unclean. Cleanliness was another comfort he wasn't accustomed to, but a swim in the clear oasis not that far off would calm his restless soul and sooth the heat. 

The waters were clean, cool and disturbed? This was not right! The sound of metal brushing against the leather sheath stirred not another sound as Medias watched the water. It rippled around a form that was unseen, hidden around a bend in the kidney shaped pond. 

Who could be in the water so late? As far as he and his comrades knew, they were the only human beings around for miles, but the soft song he heard floating above the trickling sound of water was most definitely human, and female. 

The large man crawled over the rock which shaped the water into a curve and peered over the edge, re-sheathing his weapon. He rest his chest upon the stone and felt the odd warmth seep into him. 

Below in the water was a woman, younger than he was. She was slender, tall and from the dark line which she tenderly nursed with a cloth was obviously a wound of some sort. Her long hair fell into the water and pooled around her in an inky darkness matching his own dark locks, her skin, however, was not as dark. Her colour was almost white beneath the stars and moon which shed only a silver light upon the darkened land. He marvelled at the pallor of her skin, all of her skin. She was so pale and in such a climate. Medias wondered for a second if it was even possible. 

With her pale skin she was automatically attractive to the large man. She was a rarity. A freak of nature, if you will. 

While Medias milled over the thoughts of this treasure in the desert she rose from the water, apparently alerted to his presence. No longer were her movements slow and languid, her long legs pushed her to shore and in seconds she was dressed once more, and what shocked him more than her speed was the armour which she donned. 

She wore lose pants. Pants! And a tight shirt, leather, which covered her upper body. He didn't even see her pick up a weapon but, gleaming in the night light, a sword flashed an angry silver in her hand. 

"Who's out there?!" the woman demanded, standing with her legs spread, right hand holding the large weapon. "I demand to know who is out there!" Her voice boomed, seemingly louder as it shattered the utter silence. 

Medias crept down his rock, clinging to it as much as he could without being seen. Would her voice wake his brothers? What dangers could arise from that? Quite obviously they wouldn't fault him for watching the woman as she bathed, but her punishment for being so close to them while they slept, helpless. They might think of her as an assassin sent by an opposing ruler. Akkadians had been hunted for centuries. 

His breast plate, made of padded leather, crunched against the stone and the girl's ears perked up. She crept along the side of the rock, her long hair hanging down her back, damp and cold against her skin. She pressed her shoulders into the stone and swung her whole body in one smooth movement to strike at this peeping tom. 

Clang!

Nothing! The sword hit stone and she felt the shockwave run through her arm to her shoulder. Of course, she didn't have much time to think about the pain that was growing in her shoulder at the moment as the large hulk of a man, presumably the man who had been watching her, swooped down off the rock, dropping directly on top of her. She flattened to the ground and her sword flew off to the side. 

The air rushed from her lungs as she felt his crushing weight atop her and began to thrash. 

Medias felt the woman's hips arching up into his, her ribs cracking once under his weight and suddenly realized that she was indeed a much smaller person than he was. Of course, when those nails of her's took a chunk from his face, he forgot the size difference and locked both of her wrists together in one hand. He held it high above her head and looked at the woman.

"That's not very nice," he scolded as if they were friends, dabbing at the bleeding gouge in his cheek.

"And watching someone while they bathe is?" the woman spat back, venomous tone in her voice. 

She still writhed beneath his body, pushing against his stomach with her hips. Medias wasn't going to argue with the woman, especially when it felt kind of pleasant to have her body moving beneath his in that way. She noticed his enjoyment against her leg and stopped, contenting herself in spiteful stares at the man.

"Have you calmed down?" he asked, without waiting for a reply. "Good. Now what's your name?" He seemed completely oblivious to the fact she seemed to hate him and didn't want to answer any questions. The girl narrowed her eyes but kept quiet. 

He waited for a moment before he asked again. "What is your name, woman?" he growled, trying to intimidate the girl beneath him. She kept her expression spitefully neutral and refused to speak a word. 

The sound of heavy foot falls came from the other side of the rock. "Brother?" a voice called for Medias, who responded in kind, his call not a question. 

"Over here, brother," he responded, looking down at the girl. In a swift movement he hoisted her up from the ground.

The two men who had just arrived weapons drawn looked at the girl. One laughed and clapped Medias on the shoulder. "You always had a way with the ladies," he grinned and eyed her over in a way which made her want to curl up and die. "So what's her name and what is she doing here?"

"She won't tell," Medias responded, letting go of her hands. It could be assumed that she wouldn't try to attack or escape with the three large men around her. "She was bathing when I came over to the water."

"Do you think she's a spy?" one of the men asked as they eyed her over, the other one taking away her belt and picking her sword up from the sand. 

The man who held her sword inspected it. "Her weapons look Akkadian... Perhaps she is from another tribe?" He handed the sword to the man who had asked if she was a spy to let him look it over while he searched her for any hidden weapons.

The girl looked at Medias with a killer glare as she was violated by the hands of his comrades. She felt something harsh and rough against her wrists as they were pulled backwards, tightly bound behind her back by a leather thong. 

"We can decide what we'll do with her in the morning, until then one of us will have to keep watch," said the one who had taken her weapons. Medias and the other man nodded.

"I'll take the first watch," Medias offered, hoisting the woman up over his shoulder in a fireman carry. The girl made a sound of shock and her eyes widened in fear. Truly she would have a hard time getting herself away from this mess indeed.

The girl was taken back to the Akkadian's camp, the two men settling back down into their skins and blankets, falling fast back into their slumbers. Medias and the girl sat on his skins in an uncomfortable silence. Medias took out his small knife, cutting away the bonds on her wrists. 

"This is all your fault," she chipped, her eyes watching the flames. They reflected on her skin and in her hair, dark shadows and bright orange high lights dancing in her reflectively clear eyes. "I was simply minding my own business and now I'll probably die at the hands of either you or one of your equally meat headed companions..." Her voice trailed off as Medias took some offense to the meat head comment.

"They're fair men," he stood up for his friends, watching the girl with a careful glare. She sat in a slightly hunched posture, noting the fact her arms were drawn around her slender form. He pulled one of the furs from his bedding and put it soft side down, letting the soft fur touch her skin. She watched him as he wrapped her up like some invalid or a child. His hands lingered on her shoulders a little too long and she shifted away. "So, you going to tell me your name?" he asked once more, deciding that physical contact was probably only a good idea if he wanted to fight the woman again. 

"What's your's?" she turned with a sharp glare, and what seemed like a smile in the shifting fire light. Medias looked back at her and the smile was gone, the glimmer in her eyes was gone as well. Perhaps he was just imagining that she could be friendly.

"I asked you first," he smirked and tried to infuse her with some friendliness. Medias figured if he could at least joke with her, he might be able to get a smile from the young woman. She was very pretty, and with a smile she would be even better.

"Fine," she sighed in an exasperated manner, rolling her eyes. A smile almost pulled at the corners of her gentle looking mouth. "My name's Akka D'ani," she whispered in a low tone as if she didn't want the sleeping men to hear her, as if they could through their snore filled slumbers. 

"Medias," he spoke simply, watching the small woman. "Akka is an interesting name, any story behind it?" 

"Probably," she spoke to the flames, having watched him for a moment. She averted her eyes for two reasons, to look at him while she spoke would make the large Akkadian man believe that she respected him enough to talk to, rather than at, him. The second point was the more she looked at him in the flickering firelight the more Akka saw in him that was attractive. He had broad shoulders, a huge body and was easily capable of beating her in a fight or wrestling match. If they were in her tribe, she could take him as her mate; if she so wished. 

"Probably? So I take it you don't know the story then?" he asked, noticing how she seemed to refuse to look at him. Medias wondered if this was because she didn't want to look at him or if it was because he wasn't worthy of her eyes in the mind of the young woman. He was aware of a few Matriarch societies of Akkadians where women ruled the men and were the warriors. Perhaps this Akka was one of them.

"Or I don't want to share. Take your pick," she offered to shed no more light on the story after that, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her eyes fluttered closed and time drifted by.

Medias watched her as the skin he had draped over her shoulders fell away unnoticed by the woman who had since fallen asleep. A smile pulled at his lips and with a massive arm he gently laid her down, covering her once again with the skin and taking the spot behind her. Her body blocked the heat from the fire and smelt sweet. Her hair had dried and was as soft as silk beneath Medias' unmarred cheek. 

Akka murmured as she rolled over, surprising Medias as she turned to face him, still asleep. Her cheek burrowed against his barrel chest and her hands clasped between their bodies. Medias slipped an arm around her slender waist and pulled the form close. He could get used to this indeed. 


	2. Stand Alone

Disclaimer: I spelt Mathayus' name wrong, as 'Medias' in the prior chapter. I apologize for the mistake. 

  
  


Before the King Part II: Stand Alone 

  
  
  
  


When Mathayus woke the next morning, his arm was flat against his own chest and the slender woman who had been sharing his bed the night prior was gone. The thought reached him with a start and he sat up, patting the skins and furs which laid around him. Where was she? Perhaps the innocent looking young woman was really a spy, or worse, another assassin, like his comrades had guessed?

Standing up he looked around, the fire was smoldering coals which glowed softly in the predawn, tendrils of smoke rising up from their embers. His comrades still laid amid their dishevelled beds, snoring loudly and alive. 

Perhaps she had just run off? Disappeared into the night? It was a little disheartening to know that this woman felt she could just come and leave with the passing of night and day. Then again, if she was from the Amazon-esque tribe of Akkadian women, she believed that she had the power to rule and leave as she wished, which was not what Mathayus was led to believe all his youth. A patriarchy left the unknown king thinking men were superior, and to have this woman run off on him with no sign of where she went or even when she left, was more than a slap in the face. 

His camel still nested itself amid the hot dunes of sand, but upon closer inspection, Mathayus noticed something was missing. Mainly his brother's horse. Anger rose in him, but as did a small nub of admiration. The horse was his brother's most valued possession, he had tamed it from the wild himself. In doing this, he had been the only man who could ride the unruly beast, but apparently a woman could ride the great mare. 

"My friends," he stirred his companions, they would notice the lack in horse but the mare had left her tracks heading in the direction of the city Gamora. No doubt she was already there, he told them, but they could find the girl and take back his brother's horse. He didn't suggest any retribution, though from the look in his companions' eyes he didn't have to, they were already plotting the best way to get their revenge upon the 'cute little thief'. 

The ride was slow, as the remaining horse could not carry two of the huge men. Mathayus' brother walked between the camel, which was Mathayus' preferred form of transportation. When ever questioned about his camel, Mathayus would simply smirk and remind his companions that horses may be faster, but camels were smarter. They would in turn roll their eyes and shake their heads, noting camels smelt worse. 

The gates of Gamora were guarded by the red turbaned guards of the local war lord, Memnon. He was anything but a people's king and every where you looked on the city streets you could see proof of the squaller which his people scraped a life from. 

The two riders had dismounted and were leading their mounts through the streets, carefully keeping an eye on the saddle bags and their own purses at their hips lest the large Akkadians become the fools in some cruel trick. The three stopped at an out door tavern, called over by a short, pudgy looking man with trust worthy eyes.

"Excuse me!" he shouted at the three travellers. "Excuse me, Sirs. I could not help but notice there are three riders, but only two mounts in your party.."

"What's your point?" the horse rider had quickly snapped at the short man, as if he had just delivered the most indignant insult to the man's mother, wife and sister at the same time. 

"A girl was here not too long ago, she left a horse with instructions that it belonged to a group of Akkadians. She said I should be able to pick them out as there were three men and only two mounts, one would be a camel," the man let out a jolly chuckle, disappearing around the side of a wooden hovel built quickly for shelter from the elements and the people of this unlawful city. "I wouldn't think there would be many traveller's like that, so I guess this beautiful girl is your's..." he boomed, emerging leading Mathayus' brother's horse. 

"So perhaps she isn't a thief after all..." Mathayus smirked at his comrades in a jocular fashion. The smirk was more of a wide, sarcastic, "I told ya so" grin, but none the less, the three had a small chuckle. 

"She's still a thief, just one who returns their bounty," the man who was Mathayus' brother spoke as he patted his horse on the mussel, checking if it was indeed his horse. It was. "So, we head back out? Or do you think we could get a job here?" 

"It's Gamora," the other man said with a chuckle. "We can always get work in Gamora, the question is, do we want it... Mathayus?"

But the largest of the three men was already gone. He had tied his camel to one of the bars set up for travellers to tether their beasts and was making his way through the crowd. He was easy to spot as he pushed and bullied his way through the throngs of people. He shouldered smaller men out of the way and picked up a child with one arm who was in front of him and set him down in the wake left by the huge beast of a man. 

"Where's he off to now?" his brother asked, tethering his own newly returned mare and following his brother. He followed the wake through the people, passing a child who was apparently frightened by the large warrior who had picked him up and moved him without so much as even a heavy breath. Much like his brother had done, he picked up the child and set him aside. By the time the third man had come through the path the child was getting used to being picked up and placed in a different spot, unfortunately he had lost his spot for the grand show though.

His companions caught up to Mathayus when he stopped at the edge of a sheer drop. Below a young woman stood in the centre of a ring, above was the local war lord, Memnon. He was standing at some sort of make shift alter, proclaiming the woman in the pit as a thief and a black magic wielder. She had stood up to a man and removed his head with ease, which meant she must be evil. There was no mention of the circumstances under which she removed his head, but that wasn't what mattered for Memnon. This woman would make a great spectacle. She was an Akkadian female, which in itself was a great miracle, but she was also from a matriarch tribe. No one would dare deny the powers of Memnon or his sorcerer after this display of cruelty. They would be too frightened.

Mathayus looked up, watching the man. His brother put a hand on his shoulder, "That's the local lord, from what I hear he has the personality of camel dung," the brother smiled as the final companion joined them.

"And the good looks to go with it," the three men laughed, and a few nervous chuckles moved through the crowd. A few people recognized the men as Akkadians as well, much like the poor girl stuck in the pit, destined for doom, but no one would say anything. 

The laughter stopped when Mathayus noticed who the girl was. Akka! "It's the girl," his companion pointed out. "So she -is- a thief, and a murderess apparently." He smirked in a self-satisfied manner. "You must stop getting side tracked by pretty girls with nice racks, Mathayus." That remark got the man little more than a harsh shove and a cold look.

Meanwhile, down in the pit, Akka felt her heart race. She had been caught in the street by one of the king's guards and, after a small skirmish where he tried to take advantage of a lone woman travelling in the dawn lit streets alone, she had removed his head. The pair of them. Akka had been arrested on the spot for that show of unfemininity and was now to face a "test" by decree of the king, which meant his sorcerer had told him to do it. She knew all about the rumours, King Memnon didn't go to the bathroom if is sorcerer didn't say he could. So there she stood, her body tense, and each breath burning her nostrils with the dry air. 

In the distant tunnels that ran under the alter the king stood upon, Akka could hear the rumbles and roars of starved animals. In the pit of her stomach she felt a pain of sorrow; she had always loved animals and even as a small child she had kept a cat as a pet, but she knew either she survived, or they did. 

The gates opened like a long metal smile parting over the darkness from which the two bangle tigers emerged. The large cats growled a low purr which vibrated in the air and enticed the crowds into a frenzied fit of screams and cries. The sounds reverberated in Akka's sternum and she felt sick to her stomach with dread. Some how, those guards standing at all the exits of the Colosseum like stadium didn't make Akka feel like she could get out, even if she did win, alive. She swallowed the hard lump that grew in her throat and looked at the ferocious beasts, praying to the Goddesses that she would survive. A deep breath and...

The tigers growled as Akka took a step forward. They were hungry, she could almost feel their pain. It was dull, throbbing, as if they had lived a life of cruelty. What kind of monster would do this to an animal? Her answer came swiftly and bitterly to the tip of her tongue; the same kind of monster who would pit man against beast in the name of 'Justice'. 

She took another tentative step forward, her hands out in front of her, fingers splayed open. One of the tigers, the female from the looks of it, turned around, turning her back to Akka as she tried to use the calming techniques she had learned before her tribe was slaughtered and captured to become slaves. "Hush," she whispered in a low tone, coming almost within reach of the female who not only dominated her mate, but was starting to accept Akka's attempts to relax her. The huge feline beast sniffed at the woman's palms, licking the left one and then deeming this woman accepted. 

Akka's heart beat a little easier, but the act had worked only to anger the king as he watched. 

"What the Hell is she doing?" he shouted to one of his men. "Get those tigers angry, now! I want her torn to shreds. My guard will not be made a mockery of!" And with that he sent the man off. He sent the message to one of the archers who took a small blow gun, loading it with a tiny pin of a dark. The man took aim and hit the female tiger right in the left flank.

Akka shouted with surprise as the beast rose up, enraged as the dart dug painfully into its side. The beast lunged at the only target in its line of view, Akka.

The lithe woman leapt into the air, bending her back mid air and finding her hands buried into the warm sand. She preformed two back hand springs to get herself some distance and then scanned the area. She had been scanning it earlier, looking for something that could be used as a weapon in a pinch, but as of the moment the tigers entered she hadn't found anything.

Akka looked up at the crowd which had gathered to witness her demise and suddenly felt a pang of worry for the fate of humanity. If the public massacre of a single woman was this much of an entertainment factor, humanity was doomed. And so was she, for that matter, if she didn't find away to defeat these ferocious felines.

The female charged Akka once more and the woman leapt into the air, the beast's jaws just barely missing her booted feet. She landed just off balance on the soft sand and shoulder rolled to the right. Now in a low crouch it was a scramble for the slender woman to get out of the way of the male who had charged in, ready for a meal of human flesh. Akka twisted at her waist, her long leg snapping out and her booted foot caught the animal right in the jaw. As she twisted, she picked up more speed and force. It was enough to knock the animal over. The feline rolled a few times, finally collapsing into a ball of unconscious fur and claws. 

So the male was down, all Akka had to worry about was the female, and of course the scores and scores of guards who would just love to prove to Akka that she was nothing but a worthless woman. She couldn't let this happen, she wouldn't happen. For the sake of all women in this city she could not let that happen.

The female tiger charged Akka once more. The Akkadians above watched unbeknownst to the woman in the pit, measuring and silently wondering if she would survive. She had already taken out one of the two tigers, which was a good sign. The three men watched as the slender form paused, not a hesitation but a pause, as she looked at the tiger. She leapt into the air to escape the tiger's attack but the beast was smarter than Akka thought it was, and it remembered last time. The beast launched itself just as Akka reached her peak height and as she started to descend, the beast caught her full on in the middle.

Mathayus and his two companions visibly cringed, as did several other members of the public audience. Memnon, on the other hand, smirked in a self satisfactory manner. He was quite pleased with his kitties, or at least the female. The male would not be fed this evening. 

Akka felt to the ground under the monstrously huge beast and felt the cold grip of fear encase her heart. She hadn't felt that all hope is lost feeling in quite sometime, and she had to say, she didn't miss it.

She tried to toss the beast, but that worked about as well as if she had tried to toss Mathayus when he had tackled her. Then she remembered something: The weight of the tiger would all be pushed towards its front end, rather than balanced between its front and rear. Akka rocked once, trying to gain some momentum, it worked. She pushed full force, up with her legs and her shoulders sunk deeper into the sand. The cat was knocked off its precarious perch and found itself flung across the arena and crashing into what was once a pillar. 

Akka picked herself up out of the sand as with the twisting maneuver, she had found herself face first in the hot, coarse sand. As she pushed her face from the dust, feeling the rough grip of the guards close around her arms, she looked up. As she looked up over the faces of those who had been watching, the three Akkadians struck her eye. Defeated by the shame, her head sunk and the once proud woman let her body be dragged by the guards. 

A pang of guilt stabbed Mathayus in the heart as he watched the woman. Her eyes met his and a shiver moved through his spine. Something was missing in her eyes, something that was there last night. They had lost their sparkling light, they had lost their reflective nature. They had lost their hope. 

The guards dragged her back into the underground tunnels, destined to lock her away until the world forgot her. She would die and rot in one of those cells as hundreds had done before her, even though she had won her freedom. Mathayus knew this, that she would not go free. No one would humiliate an Akkadian as they had done to this girl, even a female one, and then let them go free. She went with grace, though. 

She didn't fight, or beg, or even cry. She merely let her head droop, her long black hair acting as a veil against her lifeless eyes. 


	3. Great Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own the Scorpion King, but the character Akka is mine, as are the invented tribe of Amazonian Akkadians. I know this chapter isn't the best of my writing skills, but I was so hammered last night, I started having trouble with the ending. My apologies.

  
  


Before the King Part III: The Great Escape

  
  


Akka leaned into the corner of her cell, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her stomach hurt, the large female tiger she was forced to fight had managed to give her a rather nasty little scratch. She gritted her teeth against the pain and let her mind move to other matters, like how would she get out of there alive, if she could indeed get out of the prison alive. 

She rested her cheek against her arms, making a pillow for herself against her shoulder and arm with the wall. The cold bit into her from all angels but she couldn't let it bother her, or detract her mind.

One of the red turbaned guards walked past her cell door. She hadn't seen one in almost half an hour, or so she had guessed. It could have been longer. She inched towards the bars of the small, square room, they were rusted and corroded. They had taken away all the weapons they could find, but there was something they didn't find. A small set of pieces of bent wires, different gauges and lengths. She pulled them out from between her ribs and the shirt, opening the leather sheet that covered them so they wouldn't dig into her skin.

She picked out two of the longer pieces and pressed her left shoulder through the bars. Her arm fit perfectly between the spaces in the corroded metal. She felt around with her open hand, placing the picks between her teeth with her other hand. She felt the shape of the lock, keeping her eyes peeled for the guards, just incase she had over estimated the time she had to make her escape. She put one of the wires down and picked up a thicker one. 

She moved the smaller one into her left hand, taking the thicker piece in the right. She reached around, hugging the bar with the lock on it and inserted the two wires. She grit her teeth, grinding her jaw together before she noticed the horrible habit and stopped. Her eyes rolled back in her head a little and her tongue snaked out from between her lips. 

Akka twitched and flicked the wires, closing her eyes. She tried to feel with the slender wires trying to find the mechanism with which she could unlock the door. The young woman was starting to feel a little more than frustrated when she heard the soft "click" from the other side of the metal plate. 

She pulled the picks out and slipped them back into her little case. She wrapped them up, stuffing them back into their place between her skin and the tight shirt. She sighed and pushed the door open, peeking from behind the bars. Checking both ways she saw nothing, no guards and no anything. 

Akka crawled on her hands and knees, the dust clinging to her palms and pants as she got to her feet, keeping low. Her long legs were curled beneath her as she looked around. The guards had disappeared down to her right, so she would follow. 

The lights got brighter the further down the hallway she got, and her anxiety got worse. She would surely be killed on the spot now, but of course she couldn't let that simple fact stop her. After all, she was from one of the most feared tribes of Akkadians ever known, that is, until they were slaughtered, raped and captured for slaves. And most kings feared her tribe merely because the women were in power, and that idea of female empowerment could be contagious. 

She pressed her back into the wall, listening to the guards conversing around the corner. Akka heard two distinct voices, which meant there were at least two guards. She could deal with them. After all, they couldn't be any worse than two starved tigers, right?

The slender woman slipped around the corner and moved as fast as she could, her long legs sprinting towards the first man. The man had his back turned to her and as she leapt into the air, his comrade caught sighed of her and warned the man. It was too late, however, has Akka's knee found the temple of his head, rather than the back of his skull as she had been aiming for. None the less, it still did the trick and the man went crashing to the floor. Unfortunately, due to the laws of physics, so did Akka.

She landed well, though, and managed to pull a dagger from the downed guard's belt before tumbling forward and away from the swinging sword of the second guard. She got back to her feet and sprinted down the hallway. She had no time to play with the second guard, but then again, perhaps if she had stopped to do so, she wouldn't have had to deal with the ranks upon ranks of guards that he alerted with an alarm of some sort. 

Akka cursed as she skidded to a halt, looking around her. Panic filled her once again, but the slender woman knew she couldn't let it control her. There was a window to her left, it was covered by a wicker shade. She would have to test her luck. 

Taking a running start, the Akkadian woman dove towards the wicker screen. She leapt at just the right time, bringing her arms across her face and drawing her legs up. The thin wood shattered under the force of her weight travelling towards it. She travelled through the air, her body seemingly weightless until gravity started to pull her down. 

She braced herself for the crash that would shatter her legs and leave her ready for death... But it didn't happen. She felt through a canvas canopy of a tent set up near the castle's wall. She landed in a heap in the sand and coughed as the dust she kicked up clouded her sight and invaded her lungs. She was too stunned to move for a moment, but a pair of hands grabbed her. She thought it was the guards for a moment before she was dragged away from the hole. 

"Well, looks like it's raining women," a slightly familiar voice laughed, patting her on the shoulders. Akka looked up over her shoulders, a worried look on her eyes and was confronted by a gentle pat on her forehead. It was Mathayus. She had fallen into the tent where the three Akkadians had taken refuge. 

"Quickly get her hidden," one of the other men ordered. Mathayus picked up the slender woman with a surprising ease. He deposited her in the bedding where she assume Mathayus was sleeping that night. 

"Lay here and be quiet," she was ordered, the man's thick voice echoing in her ear as he covered her with the skins in a haphazard fashion. Mathayus laid down next to her, pulling the blankets up over him as well. "If they come in, stay still, hold your breath and wait for one of us to tell you it's okay," she nodded her agreement and closed her eyes. 

Her teeth bit into her lip as she heard the voice of the angry guards insisting that they search the tent. Mathayus' brother and companion argued and demanded that the men leave them alone. They would never house one of those filthy Amazonian women, they wouldn't dare break their brotherly code like that. The guards were fooled enough, having little knowledge on the Akkadian codes of honour amid the warriors. They were unaware that a warrior was a warrior, even if that warrior was a woman. 

Akka heard the guards draw their weapons, but the Akkadians ordered them to leave drawing their own. She assumed that the guards were not willing to take on two angry Akkadian assassins, and the fear of the third waking and creating another opponent to battle. Akka whimpered silently, her brow furrowing. The guards left and the two men re-sheathed their weapons and Akka felt Mathayus' hand push into her. 

"They are gone," he pulled back the blankets from her and saw for the first time the true extent of what had happened to the woman. She had been defeated in the ring even though she was the victor. They had most likely raped and beaten her once she was taken away from the public. A little bit of that was taken back when she had made her escape. 

Her face was paler than before, her eyes were sunken and her hair hung around her face in twisting braids, which presumably she had done herself to keep her hair from her eyes, but they were now unkept and tangled. Mathayus brushed her cheek and she turned away from his hand, still as spirited as she was before at not being seen for weak, he assumed. 

She curled up in a small ball and clenched her eyes shut. She clenched her teeth and tried to block out the men in the tent. "I'll get out of your way as soon as the fervour of the guards has boiled down..." she whispered softly, hoping that they would at least let her stay for the night. Pity and sympathy were not standard traits for Akkadians, especially the men. 

Mathayus patted her shoulder and smiled. For the second time this beautiful woman had found her way into his bed, he was starting to think it was fate. Akkadians were not known for their kindness with strangers, but how could Mathayus turn away this beautiful young girl? He was, after all, a man with the normal urges. 

"Mathayus..." his brother called him warily, the man was not exactly pleased with the proposition of housing this felon, whether she was Akkadian or not. His manly urges were not so easily picked upon as his younger brother's. 

Mathayus left Akka to her spot amid the furs and hides, answering to his brother's all. "Yes my Brother?" he asked, his smooth forehead creasing with a concerned frown as he examined his brother, seeing something was bothering him.

"I do not think that this is a good idea. She has broken out of the King's prison and has guards searching the entire city for her," the man's voice was strong in his conviction and left no room for arguing. "She could get us into a lot of trouble."

"Since when has trouble ever swayed any of us to not do something?" Mathayus countered. He did not like the idea of letting Akka against the guards any more than she did, but of course he would not challenge his older brother's word. 

"Since this trouble isn't paying me," the other man said with a smirk. "She can obviously take care of herself, can she not? She broke out of a royal prison after fighting and winning against the King's prized tigers. I believe you have little to worry about this young woman not being able to take care of herself."

Mathayus wanted to protest, to remind his brother that she was but one person, and there were thousands upon thousands of guards now on the look out for her, and the King did have the advantage of that magic man to guide him, but he didn't. "Just one night?" he tried to compromise with his brother, offering the woman but one night of hiding. 

"If we must..." the other man finally conceded and headed back to his own pallet to rest. 

Mathayus smirked to himself in a satisfied manner and headed back to where Akka would be found resting amid the skins and furs that made up his bed. "Hey kiddo, you can stay the night but only one ..." Mathayus raised a curious eyebrow as he looked at the side of the tent. "And then again maybe you won't even spend one night," he muttered to himself before bending down to fix the tent so that nothing could crawl in during the night. They would have to repair the hole in the roof tomorrow when they struck camp. 

Mathayus retired to his bedding and soon fell asleep. The sleep was fitful as it had been out in the desert, though more comfortable in means of temperature. He thrashed back and forth, his eyes clenched shut and teeth gritted, but the dreams which ran through his head. 

There was this beautiful woman. Not Akka, another woman. She looked decidedly Asian and was extremely beautiful. She wore a metal dress, coins that were jointed together with small wires. There was fire all around and screaming, and an archer. Suddenly he felt pain, sharp, shooting pain in his shoulders. 


	4. Catch Me If You Can

Before the King Part IV: Catch Me If You Can

  
  


Akka's heart thudded heavily in her chest as she sprinted through the streets of Gamora. The undesirable night life surged around her, threatening to cut off her escape from the guards who pursued the young woman. She had spent a brief moment of hiding with Mathayus and his travelling companions, but she knew she could not be such a burden upon them. Had they been from her tribe, however, it would have been different. Men from her tribe understood that men were inferior to women and that the Goddesses had made it so; other tribes seemed to forget the pain women could endure and their gift of life giving.

Akka shot through the streets, ducking beneath canvas canopies and through vendor's carts and shops, moving with all the speed and agility which came from more than a decade of intense training in the lush forests to the North. She panted with exertions, and her heart pounded in her chest under the leather tunic which clung closely to her well formed chest. Droplets of sweat formed on her brow and she brushed them aside with the back of her right hand, needing her vision to be as good as possible in the dimly lit, night-time streets of Gamora. 

Akka ducked into a building, unknowing that it was a brothel. The young and sexually innocent Akkadian girl balked as she saw the bawdy acts that were going on inside the building but the guards who were close on her heels caused her to forget the women and venture further into the sex house. 

Women gave this warrior girl a strange look, raising their eyebrows as she ran through their midst. Some laughed, others shrieked, but none offered to help the poor girl. Akka ducked into an empty room that was secured for more private and well paying customers. Akka gritted her teeth and slipped out of her pants, finding a costume laying on the floor. She had no choice, she would have to fool the guards. It was show off her body, act like one of the whores or lose her head. She picked the first option. 

The guards burst into the brothel and stopped short. 

"How will we find the Akkadian woman amid all these whores?" one of the guards asked their captain.

"Search the whole place. She'll be the only one who will be clothed..." he barked at the men and they scattered, eyeing some of the girls who giggled in an impish and playful manner. They wouldn't flirt with the guards to help this unknown woman, but they would flirt with them to make another sale, which would unknown to them 

One guard bounded up the stairs, busting through the beaded curtain which had offered minimal security and privacy. The man found a girl, dressed in dark red feathers and silver chains, lounging on the bed.

Her lithe body was pale, the red feathers covering just enough of her body to make him want them to go away. A veil covered the lower half of her face, an opaque mask of feather and chain. She beckoned to him with one finger and crawled over the lush and luxurious looking bedding. 

"Perhaps..." he started, starring at the young woman. Her eyes were deep enough to fall into, beautiful and clear. He could see that she was pouting just as the shape of her beautiful eyes changed. "In a minute. There is a fugitive on the lose..." The man could already feel the bulge growing in his pants, and quickly made his escape. 

Under her veil, Akka smirked as she slipped off the bed, pulling her pants up over the decorative panties. She ripped the feathers off them and slipped her tight fitting tunic back on, leaving the cuffs and chains she had affixed to her arm. She kinda liked them. 

The young woman jumped through the wicker window and panted as she hit the street, in a flat out run. She dashed between animals and finally came to a stop in a small stall where a few smelly beasts and a camel were tied up. The guard seemed to still be searching the brothel, if not, they had given up on finding her tonight and would place an incredibly high bounty on her head. She had now killed two palace guards. 

Oh damn, she thought to herself as she rested amid the straw. At day break she would have to find a new hiding spot and lay low there for a while and make her escape the next night. She groaned and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes against the fatigue that was creeping in on her. She couldn't give into it, sleep would bring her down. Akka drew her knees up to her chest and laid on her side for a moment. She thought she could just close her eyes. Just rest for a minute. 

The world seemed to fade from around her. The stall went away, as did the animals and the bustling people around her. Akka fell asleep, despite her training not to do so. She couldn't help it. She had been awake for almost three days in total, with little food and even less chance to rest. 

Her rest was slightly fitful, she tossed amid the back of the stall, curled into a corner. Dreamy images floated through her mind, foggy and only half there. Mathayus was there, but his companions were not. There were flames everywhere, their heat licked at anything that was flammable and caused the air to shimmer. 

A scream flooded her mind and Akka shook awake, sitting up bolt strait amid the straw and animals. Her heart pounded as she regained her breath. The stench of the animals which inhabited the stable assaulted her nostrils and senses, but she pushed those away.

The slender woman ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes and shaking her head trying to get the image of Mathayus and Memnon's sorcerer out of her head. Of course, Mathayus hadn't given her any sort of trinket, or even a word, of bond, but still, Akka had fallen for the large man, some how. 

Drawing her knees up, Akka rest her arms on them and looked out though a hole in the stall's roof, gazing at the small patch of starry sky which twinkled down on her. The woman smiled, slightly. How beautiful those stars were. How simple their life was. They were to shine down, giving light in the dark and beauty to the dark and dangerous night. To be a star would be a grand fate. Too bad no one could become a star...


	5. Beauty and the Beast Pt II

Part V: Beauty and the Beast II

  
  


Mathayus awoke well before his companions that morning, the dreams of his own death refusing the leave him be. He wandered the dawn lit streets, pale light shining down on the squalid city. Dead bodies laid in the streets amid the children and half dead. It almost made the large man crack his shell of uncaring, but he knew he could not. To try to help someone in this city was often a way that led solely to self destruction, or to being set up. Then why, he asked himself, was he so adamant when it came to that young girl? Akka... 

Mathayus decided that he might as well go talk to his beast of burden, that stinky old camel which his brother and comrade constantly mocked him for. He entered the stall and was stopped by something that shocked him.

Akka laid against his sleeping camel, her eyes closed and her body completely open to rest. It was a fairly attractive position for the young woman; her head resting on her arms which were elevated by the back of the white haired camel. Mathayus saw this and immediately he smirked, deciding to play a small joke on the small woman. 

"You're under arrest," he growled from behind her, quickly binding her hands with his behind her back and hauling the slender form to her feet.

Akka was still half asleep when the large man drug her to her feet, but the words registered loud and clear. 'Oh shit,' she thought to herself. 'I'm gonna die.' There was no way she'd be able to make an escape like she did last time. It didn't register to her that if a royal guard did catch her they would not bother to arrest her. They would, most likely, rape her repeatedly and then finally kill her. 

She was pushed into fight or flight mode, and since flight wasn't exactly an option she defaulted to fight. Her right leg snapped back, cracking towards the man's knee cap. It hit just off target, but still the large man behind her groaned in pain, giving enough space around her wrists that she could pull them free. She twisted her wrists and pulled away.

Mathayus stood up straight and looked down on Akka, who still didn't see that it was him obviously, as she slapped him twice across the face. Each cheek stung with the blows as he finally got control of her hands again. 

"Akka," he said once then repeated her name. "It's me," Mathayus spoke, careful to keep out of reach of her legs. As most women were, her power and strength came from her legs, rather than her upper body. 

"I know!" she spat at him, her eyes glaring with a harsh stare which caught Mathayus off guard.

"Then why did you hit me?"

"Why would you try to scare me like that, you big ox?" she tried to keep her voice down, but it rose still. She had to stay quiet or else she might alert the -real- palace guards to her position. Her chest was still heaving as she took in deep breaths, her chest still thudding heavily. 

His eyes moved over her body, watching her every movement. Her breasts heaved against the confines of her leather chest plate, bulging over just slightly. Her shoulders rose and fell, her eyes were alight once more. All he wanted to do was sweep her slender form up into him and have her for himself, but being the woman that she had proven herself to be, that wouldn't be the smartest course of actions he assumed. 

Akka glared at the man, she was still angry at that dream she had, the one with him and another woman. She had grown to have feelings for this man, but she knew that it wouldn't last, nothing could come of it with those images hanging over them both. The woman who she had seen in her dream was his destiny, Akka was only just someone on the path to her and she refused to be that for any man. 

She was deep in thought over that disturbing dream, so deep that she didn't notice the arm wrap around her or the man in front of her getting close. It seemed so natural, so fluid, as he pulled the woman into him, pressing his dry lips to her own and possessing them with a soft caress. Akka let herself fall into his kiss, become enchanted by it and the whole concept, the scent of his body, the feel of his warm hands along the small of her back. They pulled her into him, hoisting her up onto her toes and forcing her to lean into him for support, not that she minded. 

Mathayus was surprised with the gentle way the woman pressed into him, the femininity in her lips spoke of her natural inclination, or at least what he was taught was a woman's natural place. She could, after all, just be surprised by the action, which would cause her to be tentative. It was a possibility. Everything, he had learned to realize, was a possibility.

Akka's eyes opened, and she caught her breath as Mathayus pulled away, a mischievous grin on his lips. He knew that he had just done what no man had ever done, and he liked it. He wanted more of it. More of her. His grip on her body tightened and she felt his strength confining her. It was how her sisters had described marriage in other tribes of Akkadians, tribes where men were in charge. She felt panic rush over her and her mind abandonded all rational thought.

"Let me go," she said in a simple, rushed tone as she went limp, her lithe and supple body slipping from his grip as she caught him by surprise. The strength and desperation in her voice had been indeed a shock. 

As Mathayus' grip on the girl faltered, she ran, dashing down the street and disappearing into the early morning din that was starting to form in the market place. The great man's heart sank as he saw the woman disappear, weaving through the crowd, parting people and forcing her way through. Where would she run, though? The Palace guards were looking for her? Perhaps that didn't matter as much to her as getting away from Mathayus did. With that thought, his heart sank even more.

He took a knee beside his beast of burden and sighed. "My friend, women are strange creatures indeed," he spoke to the animal, knowing full well that it wouldn't respond, nor could it even if it wanted to. It simply looked at him and spat out into the street as camels have a tendency to do. "My thoughts exactly."


End file.
